House wiring circuit



Au@ 2, 1949. c. R. COOK 2,477,862

HOUSE WIRING CIRCUIT Original Filed Oct. 12, 1942 i 27 59 @M www @Q5 www Patented Aug. 2, 1949 UNITED PATENT OFFILCIE` Charles vR. Cook, Seattle, Wash.

Continuation of application Serial No. 461,764,

October 12, 1942.'

1947, Serial No. 766,064

This application is a continuation of my-copending application Serial No. 461,764, iiled-October 121, 1942, and `now abandoned.

The present invention relates-toY a* house Wiring circuit and-to certain of its component elements, including especially a receptacle or outlet and plug means cooperating therewith, and a principal object of the invention is to increase the convenience and utility provided by conventional circuits and parts withoutappreciable increase in cost of manufacture or installation.

More particularly, the invention is concerned withproviding a wiring circuit-for abuilding interior, such for example as a room in a dwelling house, including a convenienceoutlet for sup-'- plying current to various appliances and switch means for controlling the supply inaccordance with the special character and requirements of the individual appliances.

In a specic suggested use of theinvention, a wiring circuit and convenience outlet arev pro,- vided for energizingsimultaneously an appliance having an unswitched circuit requiring a constant supply of current and another appliance having a switched circuit.

One of 'the problems solved'by the. invention can best be understood from Fig. 1 of the; ap-

pended drawing, which illustrates inr perspective a portion'of a furnished living room equipped with a preferred embodiment of -the` invention;

For many years the more or less standard practice in house wiring was to provide yazroom with a'xed lighting xture, generally a ceiling lamp, controlled by a wall switch. Such'rooms were also provided with a plurality of continuously supplied wall sockets adapted to vreceive the plug connectors of such portable appliances as radio receiving sets, electric clocks, fans, table and iioor lamps, vacuum cleaners, etc. Nowadays mostl people prefer not to use la permanently positioned lamp for continuous illumination. It is much more popular to employ floor and table lamps for this purpose, and the modern trend is entirely to eliminate ceiling fixtures. In vmost houses equipped with wall-switched'v ceilingfixtures, where the wall switch is generallyzfnear an entrance doorway and the favoriteV portablelamp is generally remote therefrom, the occupant must turnthe ceiling light on when entering the .darkcned room, then turn on the desired portable lamp, and then extinguish the ceiling light; The only alternative is to walk through thedarkftothe portable lamp and turn it on-by its own bulb switch. Whenthe-room isto'be'vacated itis Aof coursev necessary to lightfthe ceiling fixture-*and This application August 4,

then return to and extinguish the portable lamp and nally extinguish the ceiling fixture, or Walk through the darkened room from the portable lamp to the doorway. Either procedure is-ob viously inconvenient, both when lighting or darkening the room.

Some improvement has been eiected by placing one wall socket under the control of the wall switch and connecting a portable lamp to such socket. But this of course unts-such socket for any other use, and is productive of considerable annoyance whenever the switch on the lamp is left in open position, because in such casethe lamp cannot be turned on by the wall switch. Moreover, unless a number of suchspecial, wallswitch controlled sockets are provided in the room, it is impossible to rearrange the furniture and-move the favorite portable lamp very far from its special socket. Most householders, having one or more such special wall-switched sockets,v prefer to disable the individual bulb switches of the lamps plugged into such sockets to make sure that these lamps will always be turned off'l at the wall switch, but of course this is inconvenient when one wants to turn the lamp out and remain at the location of the lamp or depart from the room by a doorway other than that where the wall-switch is located.

The present invention solves all these difliculties byproviding a special wiring system including one or more outlet sockets into which can be plugged either or both a lamp and a continuously supplied appliance, with the lamp adapted to be turned on or oi at a wall switch or at its own bulb switch, regardless of the open or closed condition of the other one of these two switches, andwith the appliance which must be continuously supplied, like the clock and radio receiving set shown in Fig. 1, unaffected by the lamp switching, Hence the room shown in Fig. 1 may be entered through the doorway there shown and the lamp promptly lit4 byA operating the adjacent wall switch; TheY lamp may later be turned off by its own bulb switch, as may be desirable if the occupant wishes to remain in the darkened room or to leave the room by another doorway, not shown but assumed to be remote from that one which is shown. Subsequently the lamp may be lit from its own bulb switch or from the wall switch, and none of this interferes inthe slightest degree with continuous supply of current, from the outlet which supplies the lamp, to the radio receiving set and/or any other appliance. such as an" electric clock, which may be plugged intoV the same outlet.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of the re-fceptacle, taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. V3; and

Fig. 6 is a generally schematic phantom view of a plug which may be used with the construe-f tion.

In Fig. l, the room is assumed to be provided 'A' 4 ets are connected directly with the main leads by the wires and 26.

The sockets 2B, 2l and 22 are adapted to receive a special plug 21, shown in Fig. 5, having prongs 29 and 28 for the sockets 2U and 2l and a polarizing prong 30 for that arm of the T-shaped opening 22 which is shown vertical in the drawing.

Ashas'A been seen, the socket 22 is connected to one'of'the main leads by the wire 2B. Each of the sockets 20 and 2| is connected by one of the wires 3|, 32 to one of the two contacts 33, 34

which are alternatively engageable by the arm of the wall switch I0, and this arm is con- Y' nected to the main lead I5.

Thus the sockets I9 and 22 are constantly supplied with current, independently of the switch with main leads concealed in its walls and con- ,n nected to a wall switch I located adjacent to a doorway and any convenient number of receptacles or outlets II mounted at various points on the walls of the room. The room is illuminated by any desired fixture I2, here shown as a portable oor lamp, and contains also one or more electrical appliances which must be continuously supplied with electrical energy, here shownas a radio receiver and a clock, both designated I3. Other appliances of this character may include Ventilating fans, air-conditioning units, door bell transformers, and many other instrumentalities. The lamp I2 is intended to be controlled by the switch I 0 as well as by a switch I4 mounted on the lamp, and the other appliances, of which the radio set and clock I3 are g typical, are not controlled by the switch Iii. As has been seen, the problem is to provide a wiring circuit including the receptacle II which will service at one and the same time the'lamp I2 under'the control of the switch IDI, and some other appliance or appliances, like the radio set and clock I3,Vwhich are independent of the switch Ill. Y

The circuit, shown in Fig. 2, includes the main lead I5, which may be considered to be the hot wire, and I6, which may be considered to be the ground wire. These main leads are connected to the receptacle II, which is of a special type, and the wall switch I0, which may be a conventional double-throw switch. The receptacle is here shown as of double form, adapted to receive simultaneously two appliance plugs, one in each of its similar parts. Inasmuch as the two parts, shown at I1 and I8 in Fig. 3, are identical except that they are relatively reversed, only one will be described. Y

The part I1, for example, includes four contact sockets designated respectively I9, 2B, 2l and 22. Each contact socket includes an opening as shown in Fig. 3, behind which there is provided a conventional type of spring clip contact which, for convenience, is designated in Fig. 2 by the reference numeral used for the corresponding opening in Fig, 3. One of these contact sockets, such as that designated 22, is specially formed as by being of T-shape, so that the receptacle is polarized.

The contact sockets I9 and 22 are intended to be engaged by the two prongs 23, 24 (Fig. 2) of a conventional plug connected to the radio set I3 and/or otherappliance by wires 45, 46 requiring constant current supply. These contact sockets I9 and 22 are the only ones of the four provided in each receptacle part whichwill receive such a plug. As is evident from Fig. 2 these two sock- I0', while the three sockets 2B, 2I and 22 provide contacts for a circuit which will include the socket 22`and one or another of the sockets 20, 2I depending on the position of the switch arm 35. If the plug 21 be connected in the lamp circuit shown in Fig. 2, and be inserted in the receptacle I1, the lamp may be lighted and extinguished at the wall switch I!! or at its bulb switch I4, which is a conventional double-throw switch as shown in Fig. 2. This lamp circuit consists simply of a wire 36 connected to the prong 29 and terminating at contact 31 of the double-throw lamp switch i4, and wire 38 connected to prong 28 and terminating at contact 39 of the switch I4. The arm 4@ of this switch is connected to one terminal of the lamp by a lead 4I, and the other terminal of the lamp is connected to the prong 30 by a wire 42. It will be evident that if the arm 35 of the switch Il! happens to be engaged with contact 33 the lamp will be illuminated if switch arm 4Q is engaged with contact 31 of switch I4, while if switch arm 35 happens to be engaged with contact 34 the lamp will be illuminated if switch arm 4D is engaged with contact 39. Thus the lamp may be extinguished or lighted by manipulating either of the switches I0 or I4.

For clarity of illustration Fig. 2 shows schematically two separate plugs, one engaged with each ofthe duplicate parts of the receptacle II. In the lower part of Fig. 2 a conventional plug having prongs 23, 24 is engaged with receptacle part I8, while in the upper part of the figure the spez'zi'al plug 2 1 is shown engaged with receptacle part I prefer however to combine the conventional andspecial plugs into the single plug designated 43 and shown in Fig. 6. In this figure each of the four prongs of the combined plug is designated with the same numeral used for the corresponding prong in the other gures. Each of the prongs is separately connected to its own wire, except the polarizing prong 30, which is connected to two wires. Thus the plug carries five wires, conveniently assembled as a single cable 44 adjacent to the plug and branching at a suitable distance from the plug as wires 4S and 45, connected to prongs 24 and 30 and leading to the radio set, clock, etc., and wires 41, 48 and 48, connected to the prongs 29, 28 and 3G, and leading to the lamp I2.

Fig. 1 shows a plug 43 inserted in one of the duplicate parts of the double receptacle, with its two-wire branch connected to the radio set and clock I3 and with its three-wire branch connected to the lamp I2. This arrangement leaves the part I8 of the receptacle available to receive another plug 43, or another plug 21, or a conventional plug. Thus the arrangement shown in Fig.

1 may be duplicated from the receptacle II, as by connecting to the receptacle another lamp and one or more appliances which require continuous current supply, say a phonograph, fan or the like. The part I8 of the receptacle II in Fig. 1 may be left normally unused, so as to be available to receive a plug connected to some such appliance as is only temporarily used, such as a vacuum cleaner or the like.

The mechanical construction of the plugs and receptacles forms no part of the invention and may be conventional. In Figs. 4 and 5 the receptacle is shown made largely of the usual dielectric composition material 50, and with the contacts made in the form of the customary resilient metal clips.

It will be obvious that the arrangement hereinabove explained accomplishes the objects of the invention since it permits one to enter the darkened room by the doorway shown in Fig. 1 and turn the lamp on by operating the switch III. The person may thereafter leave the room by another doorway, or remain in the room, after turning the lamp out by its switch I4. Obviously, the lamp may again be turned on at the switch I0 or at its switch I4, whichever is most convenient. None of these operations interferes with a constant supply of current to the appliances I3 or to any other which may be connected by a plug having prongs engaged in the sockets I9 and 22.

It is recognized that Variations and modiiications from the details of the illustrated constructions and circuits may be made within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims. Not al1 of these details are essential to the invention or need be used in combination with each other, as will be recognized by those skilled in the pertinent art, inasmuch as certain advantages can be realized by use of less than all of the structures and circuits here shown as embodying a preferred complete embodiment of the invention. All such modifications and variations and the individual novel elements thereof, to the extent that they are within the spirit of the invention as dened by the appended claims, are to be deemed within the scope and purview thereof.

I claim:

1. In a house wiring circuit comprising a Iirst main lead and a second main lead, a receptacle having a pair of contact sockets, one connected to each lead, and having two additional contact sockets, a double-throw switch device having a switch connected to the iirst main lead and having two switch contacts engageable alternatively by the switch and connected one to each of said additional contact sockets, means for connecting that contact of the rst named pair which is connected to the second main lead to the unswitched side of an appliance having on its other side a second double-throw switch having two contacts, and means for connecting the two additional sockets separately to the last named two contacts.

2. The combination claimed in clairn 1, in which the contacts are polarized, and which combination includes plug means having prongs polarized for the iirst named pair of contact sockets connecting said sockets with an unswitched appliance, and which combination includes also plug means having three prongs polarized to t the two additional sockets and the socket which is connected to the second main lead, said second plug means connecting said two additional sockets separately with the two contacts of the second double-throw switch and connecting said last named socket with the unswitched side of the appliance to which said double-throw switch is connected.

CHARLES R. COOK.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 366,124 McElroy July 5, 1887 2,072,389 Stayton Mar. 2, 1937 2,312,580 OBrian Mar. 2, 1943 2,313,452 OBrian Mar. 9, 1943 

